The precedent set in Newberry v. United States[case]Newberry v. United States[Newberry v. United States] (1921), which prevented Congress from regulating party primaries, was one of the foundation blocks for the whites-only primaries of the South. The Supreme Court partially overruled Newberry in the Classic case, which involved charges against a Louisiana election commissioner for deliberately changing the ballots in a congressional primary. Speaking for a 5-3 majority, Chief Justice Harlan Fiske StoneStone, Harlan Fiske;Classic, United States v.[Classic, United States v.] ruled that the federal government, based on Article I of the U.S. Constitution, had the right to ensure the integrity of primary elections if they had a clear relationship to the determination of who would be elected to Congress. Classic prepared the way for the landmark case Smith v. Allwright[case]Smith v. Allwright[Smith v. Allwright] (1944).White primaries;Classic, United States v.[Classic, United States v.]

Grovey v. Townsend

Race and discrimination

Smith v. Allwright

State action

White primaries